HELLLOOO, where were you made and other randomness?

The other morning while I was straightening the Wild Child's hair, I notice that she continually is admiring herself in the mirror. I reflect back to when she was a baby and people would stop me and tell me she was the most beautiful baby they had ever seen. In fact her dad, the Rocket Scientist, has mentioned from time to time that her beautiful china doll face never leads one to believe how calculating and feral she really is. Suddenly the Wild Child makes eye contact with me in the mirror and says, "Mom, it looks like I am made in China.."When we load in the mini-van to take the kids anywhere, I holler, "Seat belt check." If the Sea Monkeys have their seat belts on, they holler back, "CHECK." This has been working really well, since then I don't have to question them one-by-one to see who has their seat belts on and who we are waiting for. Yesterday morning, I forget to yell "Seat belt check." The Little Jamaican was not having a change in the routine. She starts yelling, "Check!", from the back of the mini-van and continues to yell it at me until I acknowledge that she has her seat belt on AND say, "Seat belt check." This is when I realize that the 1st One is growing up. "Little Jamaican, the seat belt check is getting really old.", I hear her say. She speaks of it as if it is a catch phrase uttered way past it's time. Next thing you know, I will be embarrassing her with out trying. Oh.....wait, I already do that. She was mortified when I forgot to put on a certain piece of support wear to drive her to school last week. She told me to zip up my coat so no would notice. She kept reminding me that I didn't need to get out of the car. Like I wanted to....It was 24 F.

The Little Jamaican wanted to go out and jump on the trampoline. I am fine with that, I just wanted her to put some clothes on since she was wearing her a "cheerleader" skirt and shirt. When I reminded her she needed on something more than she was wearing, she responded with, "HEEELLLLLOOOOO, Why do you think I am wearing this?" Ya, I'm not sure this is the tone I want to hear from my 5 year old. "Heeellllooooo, it's below freezing out there. Put on your snow pants and a coat." Oh, wait, that isn't actually teaching her to speak respectfully. "Hey, I was thinking that maybe you would put on your snow pants and a coat."
In the past few months, we discovered that My Son has some permanent hearing loss. It is suspect that it is congenital. Strangely, this bit of information brought a thrill of excitement around here. Truly a blessing to find something that, when corrected, would make a huge difference for him. The day he got his hearing aids, his voice level was half as loud. You could see that he was hearing some things for the first time. There was much joy and celebration in our home. The only down side to all of that is.......he is a little boy.......which in this case, translates to one of them is already missing. At $1250.00 a piece used, they are not easy or economical to replace. We have torn the house apart looking for it, scoured the school, harrassed the local library and friends, and actually cleaned out the dumpster on wheels (a.k.a. mini-van). Amazing how in a short period of time there are so many variables of where that missing hearing aid could be. Anyway, if you all wouldn't mind, say a little prayer for the wayward hearing aide to show up. Thank you.

Questions and Estrogen Don't Mix

Last week, after picking up the 1st One and the Wild Child from school, a heated debate erupted from the back seat. This is not new news. It happens almost daily. The new part was the topic of disagreement.

The Wild Child asked if ducks have tongues. The 1st One insists that they do because she has seen a duck's tongue before. The Wild Child of course is not convinced that her sister is right. Then the "you're stupids" and the "I hate yous" are flying before I can even begin to say, "I don't know if ducks have tongues, but we can look it up as soon as we get home." Fortunately they mellowed until the Wild Child and her inquisitive brain decided to try one more time to start World War 3. In her sweet little voice she asks, "Mom......Are pandas bears?" Once again before I can respond the 1st One is answering with, "Panda-BEAR, Polar-BEAR, they are BEARS!" You know that infuriated the Wild Child and the insults were flying again. I just don't get enough of that, so before my head exploded, I explained we would look that up to when we got home and there was to be no more talking. Finally, two seconds peace.

So if you are wondering......All birds have tongues, even ducks. As for the panda, well, scientists don't seem to be able to agree either. Some say they are more like raccoons and others say they are more like bears. Fortunately, that was acceptable to my girls.

Is Flunk a Bad Word?

You know the moments in life you hope desperately to avoid? The 1st One has brought it to my attention that I will have many a minutes like this in my life.

In the 1st One's sweet innocence the other day, she tells me the book she is reading has a bad word in it. Thinking to myself, "What is she reading?" I decide to ask her what the word is. She spells it for me. "F-L-U-N-K." Wow, OK, well. I explain though this word is not a bad word, no one likes to flunk. I lamely try to give her a definition she will understand. She insists that her teacher said that is was a bad word. I think for a minute......"Well, it sort of sounds like a really bad word, but flunk is not a bad word." Her reply, "Oh, (insert F-bomb here) is a bad word!" I finish hyperventilating, knowing that all my children have now logged that word somewhere in their sweet little heads to be used as ammo in the future. I say that yes, she is right. "Sweetheart, that is the worst swear word I know of. So much so, that Mommy has never said it. Please don't ever say that again. OK?" Amazingly enough, she has been very mad at me for the last few days, but has not used that lovely word. I am counting my blessings.

Things prayed for...

You see the socks the Wild Child is wearing? She got those for her birthday. Did I mention she LOVES Troy? Yes, she has told me this herself and then asked me not to tell her dad. I didn't have to, her sister told her dad right in front of her.

So she decides to wear the new socks to bed. Doesn't she look cute in her new PJ's and "Troy" socks?

I am listening to the 1st One say her prayers when I hear her say, "And please bless that (insert Wild Child's name here) won't wake up in the middle of the night and start kissing her socks." Oh how I love little girl crushes. They are just so cute. Now, if I can just keep them having crushes on fictitious characters, I will be in business.

Road Kill

Are you all waiting for me to have an original thought? Me too! It seems lately that so much information is coming in that there is no time for me to think. Kind of like getting ran over on the information highway. That said, I had the lovely opportunity of reiterating to the 1st One of my thoughts on pierced ears.

You see, my mom had never had ears pierced, then about five years ago, she decided that she would pierce her ears so that she could wear her earrings. It was very short lived. She just couldn't leave them open. The thought of putting something through her ears really just grossed her out. So my stance on piercing ears is a lot different than most moms.

I decided that it was my child's choice, since it is my child's body. Knowing that this would not be a good choice for a three year old to make, I decided that I needed to pick an age that would be both appropriate and an age where they would be responsible for caring for them themselves. My religion refers to age eight as the age of accountability. Sounded good to me. We have such few rules like this that you would think that this would not be a huge deal. That......is what I get for thinking. My seven and a half year old is freaking out that she has to wait a whole 5 months to have her ears pierced. I must be the meanest mom out there.

Dreaming of a WHITE Christmas!

Did you wonder if you came to the wrong place? I was feeling festive.........

Anyway, on to one of the many things I have to talk about tonight. The first one being, how children will and do repeat what you say. The Rocket Scientists has this saying that goes something like this when I am asking him to help me with something that he isn't sure he wants to do. He says, "You're killin' me woman!" I usually smile and let it be. That is until the the 1st one started using that line on me when I'd ask her to pick up her shoes or clear off the table. Now you know on the inside I was busting up. That is some pretty funny stuff, but on the outside I had to tell her it wasn't OK for her to use that line with me. The RS has decided with some encouragement that maybe this is not a line he will use with me anymore either.

The next thing is my fun loving Friend has this link to a personality test. If you haven't figured it out yet.......yes......I can find endless entertainment in these type things. So if you are wondering about which "color" I am, I'm white.

"Whites are motivated by Peace. They seek independence and require kindness. They resist confrontation at all costs. To them, feeling good is more important than being good. They are typically quiet by nature, process things very deeply and objectively with great clarity. Of all the colors, whites are the best listeners. They respect people who are direct but recoil from perceived hostility or verbal battle. Whites need their "alone time" and refuse to be controlled by others. Whites want to do things their own way and in their own time. They ask little of others and resent others demanding much of them. Whites are much stronger than people think, but are not often seen for their strength because they don't easily reveal their feelings. Whites are even-tempered, diplomatic, and the voice of reason; but can also be indecisive, unexpressive, and silently stubborn. When you deal with a WHITE, be kind, accept and support their individuality, and look for non-verbal clues to understand their feelings."

I would love to know what color you are!!!

The last thing I wanted to cover in this post is my erratic posting and reading of my bloggy friends. I miss you when I don't get to read what you are doing or thinking about, etc. I want to say that it is going to get better, but chances are, it will not for a while. I have plenty I want to blog about. I am lacking time. I have this part of my brain that shifts with no explanation that sends me in a different direction than I was originally headed. This instance......as a child I was not neat or tidy. My mid-teens this shift happened and everything had to be neat and organized. Then sometime after I had been married for about 4 years, there was a shift again. Neat and organized were taking leave. Well about 2 months ago, neat and organized came back. I have almost 10 years of clutter that suddenly can no longer exist in my life. Getting rid of all this clutter is a serious time sucker. Since I will have no peace until it's done, and that is what I am motivated by according to the previously mentioned personality test, it is what is occupying most of my free time. This is not to say that I will not be around at all, just not daily. More like three to four time a week.

I hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving!

Back to cleaning.......

Karen

On the Contrary!

Have I ever mentioned that I love the charter school my 1st One and Wild Child attend. They are learning a ton. The best part of that is that they are excited about what they are learning. I don't know about you, but when I was is school they didn't teach us about "greeting" new people and proper etiquette for such situations in the 1st and 2nd grade. My 1st One came home and told me all about it. She even said, "You should say, 'Hello, my name is ........, it's a pleasure to meet you.' Mom, did you know that is a greeting?"

The kids have been doing a bunch of field work lately, aka: field trips, that have all been centered on or around trees and the products they provide us. They talk about how they grow, why leaves change color, what grows on trees, how we get paper form them and what might live in and around them, to name just a few. A few weeks ago the the 1st One was able to tour and Violin Making school. Can you believe how cool? I know you are all thinking......."OK....we get it. You like the school.......is there a point here?" No point......just a Wild Child story.

So this past week when the 1st One was at school and before it was time to take the Wild Child to afternoon Kindergarten, the Wild Child had the Little Jamaican and My Son sitting on the couch. She was literally making them stay there, because she had made a "Contrary" and they were doing field work, learning about some of the animals in her "Contrary." She had taken all the throw pillows off the couch and had made "cages" for some of her "animals" (aka: stuffed animals) and was pulling them out one at a time and talking about them to her brother and sister like she was a tour guide. Of course, this is all very amusing to me, especially since it took me forever to figure out what a "Contrary" was.

This is what I over heard as she was giving the tour of her conservatory. "This here is a weasel-rat. They live here in the forest. Can anyone tell me what a weasel-rat eats?" as she is holding up her stuffed animal that is actually a weasel she's named Womp. "Do they eat leaves? No. Do they eat bugs? No. Do they little kids? No. How about noses?" She lets out a little snort/laugh. "They eat HAIR! THEY EVEN EAT THEIR OWN HAIR!" Wow.........now that is a very self sufficient weasel-rat.

"I have great, great news!"

If you have children or spend anytime around children, you know that you hear things. Things you wouldn't necessarily hear from an adult.

I had given the Wild Child and the 1st One new pencils with Strawberry Shortcake on them to put in their back-packs for school tomorrow. The girls were climbing the stairs to put their jammies on when I hear the 1st One say to the Wild Child, "I have great-great-great-great news!! These are from CHINA! Look it says, Made in China." Yes, that is what she said. The Wild Child responses after such a declaration, was complete indifference.

How old is your backpack?

The 1st Child must be an old soul. By the time she was 18 months old, she would tell me what she would and would not wear. She didn't like clothes that made her look like a baby. She wanted clothes that made her look like a tween.

As time has marched on, things have not changed with this sweet child of mine. In kindergarten and 1st grade she wanted backpacks that had Hello Kitty on them. That part was age appropriate but the fact she liked the mono-chromatic colored Hello Kitty backpack screamed I'm in 5th grade.

Today we shopped for her 2nd grade backpack. The first one she picked was a JanSport, mono-chromatic, looks like I'm going to high school, cost $60.00, back pack. Nope, I draw the line there. It's too old and too much money for a 2nd graders back pack. She finally settled on a "book bag" instead that says I'm still in the 5th grade.

Now if I can just keep her in the 5th grade until she gets there.

All good things must come to an end...

What a fun vacation that was! So there was some stuff I left out while on vacation. Mostly because it takes me so long to put my thoughts into words and then longer to make them make sense to more than just me. One of my very favorite things in the world to do is to walk through model homes. If you have ever done this with me, you know that I could go on forever. Most people are "crying uncle" long before I am tired of it. There are some funny things I have noticed about model homes. Like this for instance:Honestly, would most people put these items on top of their dryer? Now, don't get me wrong, I'm all about every room in the house being a place that is pleasant to look at, but come on. Really? Would I really put more dirt voluntarily into one of the main rooms in the house dedicated to removing dirt? I'm just sayin'.

Here is another one that has me wondering. I love the theme and color scheme in this room. I find it cute beyond words, but, (you knew the but was coming right?) the life preserver on the bed? You know in my house it would be doing the opposite of preserving life if it were left on a child's bed. I am certain that some child would be trying to use it on a sibling as collar and leash or possibly a device of torture.

Ok, enough of that! So when Wednesday morning rolled around this week and we had to start heading home, there were so many tears cried by children begging to stay for just a few more days. They were honestly breaking my heart. The kids had slept in that morning, which was good. I could do so much more, faster without their sweet little selves distracting me. My Son and the Wild Child woke first. We tried to keep them quiet so they would not wake the others. That didn't work so well since any time we weren't watching they would sneak off into the other room and try to wake the others. When they did finally wake the 1st Child, she was not happy about it. She was still very tired from being out so late the night before. She comes to me and says, "Mom, these two woke me up with their running around and screaming. I wasn't ready to wake up and now they are making me annoying!"

Not ten minutes later I am trying to convince the Sea Monkeys to get dressed. I wanted to get packed up and on the road before it got too hot. The Little Jamaican walks over to me butt naked with her underwear around her neck saying as she sways, "Look at my beautisul scarf." Will you just get dressed please!!! This seems to be a recurring thought I have lately. I am wondering if I am raising nudists. It's not that hot! Put some close on for Pete's sake, and mine too for that fact.

The weekend in a few pictures...

The pictures below all crack me up. The first one with the Rocket Scientist smirking makes me smile, because I know I'm about to be heckled.

We were at friends house on Saturday night. They had a lovely garden growing like gangbusters. As soon as one child had a carrot from the garden, they all had to have a carrot. The Little Jamaican decided she had to eat hers in the pool.Aren't the goggles and the expression priceless? This kid was cracking me up Saturday night. OK, OK! I know most people would not find humor in this, but if I didn't, the Wild Child would be the death of me. The Rocket Scientist thinks that I should label these pictures something like "One too many days of vacation." She first started crying because her flip-flops fell off when we were driving. She thought that I should just whip right out of my seat while riding down the road and retrieve the wayward shoes. Then when we arrive at our destination she freaks out more since the door to her left closed while she was having the first tantrum. Apparently, that is the only door you may exit through if you are the Wild Child. The full-on melt down lasted only about 15 minutes.
See all better!
Well, all better for a minute! When the sea monkeys started to fight at the park we told them it was time to go. They like most kids said they weren't leaving. The Rocket Scientist and I decided to call their bluff. We decided to get in the car. When the First Child realizes this, she rounded them all up and pulled them to the car. They are crying, again, because they think we were going to leave them at the park. Like we could ever do that!? (eyes rolling)

Why does the Wild Child ask these things?

Just for some quick history... The Wild Child a while back asked her dad what you had to do to get a driver's license. He explained you have to take a class, take some tests, get some practice, get a permit, get some more practice, take another couple of tests. (Explaining that there were both driving and written test to be taken.) The Rocket Scientist hears the quiet after his explanation and realizes he forgot the most important part to that answer. "Oh, and you have to be at least 16." "WHAAAT?" comes the reply from the back seat. The Wild Child honestly thought, "Cool, I'm going to get my mom to get me into a driving class and then I can drive whenever I want." Oh, that girl scares me.

Yesterday when I was getting on the freeway by our house, the Wild Child asks, "What happens if you speed?" I am wondering if she thinks I'm speeding because I am accelerating to get on the freeway or is there something else going on in her head. I am also wondering how much is too much information for this particular child. I tell her you can get a ticket for speeding. "What happens if you get a ticket?" she asks in a "so what?" tone. I explain about fines and jail and how all that depends on how fast you are going, where you are (we were in a construction zone), etc. While I am trying to explain this to the five year old Wild Child, the Little Jamaican keeps trying to talk over the top of me. I finally have to tell her to wait her turn, that she can talk in a minute. When I finish explaining, I tell the Little Jamaican that it is now her turn. I finally hear what she kept trying to say. She's saying, "And you win, Momma, and you win?" I have to ask her "what?" one more time to try and figure out what she means. The First Child then interprets, "She thinks it's a race when you're speeding to win." Honest, I was only doing 55 in a 55 zone.

Eyebrows, really?

I have been looking for the picture that should really go with this post, but with my organizational skills for pictures, my great great grandchildren may never find it. All beside the point. For as long as I can remember, which is really not that far, Friday night would consist of the family (The Rocket Scientist, Sea Monkeys and me) going out for dinner and then to Home Depot or Lowes. It didn't matter where we lived, we would always do this. In fact, I think one of my son's first words was "Home Depot." For the longest time we could not drive past one without him in full tears over not going in.

If you have small children or have had small children, you know how important it is for them to get enough sleep. Well, it's Friday night and it is date night, even if it is with our four very small children. It is a little late to still be out and wandering around Home Depot, but we are. The First Child and the Wild Child are sharing one of those race car carts. The Little Jamaican and my Son are sharing another. Now mind you, the the First Child and the Wild Child were tired and probably without naps as we were living in a small apartment waiting for our home to be completed. Being that they were 2 and 3, they really should have had a nap to be up so late. Their favorite thing to do then was to get "colors." (You know, paint swatches.) Well, they were each allowed one of their choosing. At some point, there was a disagreement about their "colors" and something to do with seat belts or something. The Wild Child decides that she is so angry with the First Child that reaches out grabs the First Child's eyebrows and tries to pinch/gouge them off. Why her eyebrows were so offensive at this point, I don't know, but that was the Wild Child's point of attack. It's not like the First Child even has big eyebrows. My dear friend, Shades of Blonde finds this as humorous as I did. Maybe more. We still laugh about it more than 4 years later. "Oooooo, those eyebrows are ticking me off!"

7 years old this month

How does this happen? I have asked her to stop. She tells me she can't. She insists on growing up. In fact she's been bent on it since the day she was born. She was wide awake from the beginning, always wanting to learn and grow as fast as she can. That hasn't changed a bit. I can still remember rocking her one night when she was about 6 months old. I started crying uncontrollably because I realized she was going to grow up. She wouldn't always be a baby. And now, here she is already 7 years old. Happy Birthday, my sweet First Child. I love you.